US Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said the KC-46A tanker will be called 'Pegasus.' (Boeing)

ORLANDO, FLA. — The Air Force’s next-generation tanker has a new name, the service’s chief of staff announced Thursday.

Gen. Mark Welsh announced that the KC-46A has been dubbed “Pegasus” during his keynote address at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla.

“It’s a proud name,” Welsh said. “I had a chance to see the first airplane on the assembly line a few weeks back. It will be flying in June. It’s a real thing now.”

The KC-46A is one of the big three recapitalization programs the Air Force has acted to protect in the budget, alongside the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and new long-range strike bomber. The tanker program will produce 179 new planes to replace the aging KC-135 tanker fleet, with 18 tankers delivered by 2017 and completion of production in 2027.